KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A grieving father said he is planning to sue after his son was killed during this year's Rod Run in Pigeon Forge.
Jeremy Hanes Jr., who went by Kyle, died after a scooter crash on April 18. He was riding along the parkway when he got close to an intersection with stopped traffic. That's when a passenger in a pickup truck opened his door and Hanes slammed into it.
"It just looked bad," said Kyle's dad, Jeremy Hanes. "He was laying there, completely unresponsive, eyes closed. It was bad."
Kyle made it to the hospital but never woke up again. He died the next day.
"At the end of the day, my son did not come home," Jeremy said. "When my son came home, he came home in a coroner's van."
10News obtained the investigative file in this case from the Pigeon Forge Police Department. It contains photos, videos, witness interviews and reports.
Police talked to, or got statements from, the truck's teenage driver and teenage passenger, plus around a dozen other witnesses to the crash.
Their stories were nearly all the same — that the truck's driver and passenger had planned to switch seats at the light, and that's why the teen opened his door. Jeremy said he was not convinced it was an accident. He said he watched the traffic camera video and never saw the driver's door open, never saw a dome light illuminate.
"I honestly feel that they thought it was gonna be a funny moment to door-check somebody, and it just happened to be my son that got door-checked," he said. "And that funny joke turned into a tragic accident."
The Pigeon Forge Police Department left the question of whether it was an accident up to the district attorney general's office. In a letter to police, the deputy district attorney general wrote that there was "insufficient evidence" to bring criminal charges. He then told police they could close the investigatory file.
"If justice would have been served for my son, there would have been charges put on this kid, if not all the kids in the vehicle," Jeremy said.
A memorial now sits near the spot where Kyle suffered that fatal blow from the truck door. But his father has never seen it in person. Jeremy said he doesn't plan to ever return to Pigeon Forge. But he also doesn't plan to ever give up his fight for justice.
"I'm not stopping," he said. "I lost my son, and if the table was turned, and if I was the one that was gone, my son wouldn't stop for me."
Jeremy hired attorney Richard Talley to help him with this case. Talley said the plan is to sue the truck's owner.
Hanes said his goal is to make sure his son's three children are taken care of now that their father is gone.